11th Army Corps
In April 2016, the 11th Army Corps was formed as part of the Baltic Fleet in the Kaliningrad Region. The corps includes the 7th separate guards motorized rifle regiment, the 79th separate guards motorized rifle brigade, including the tank battalion, self-propelled guns and air defense battalions, the 152nd guards missile brigade, the 244th guards artillery brigade and the 22nd separate guards anti-aircraft missile regiment.
The 11th Army Corps with a place of deployment in the Kaliningrad Region was formed as part of the ground and coastal forces of the Baltic Fleet. In Crimea, the 22nd Army Corps was formed as part of the Black Sea Fleet. An Army Corps is a combined arms unit designed to solve operational-tactical tasks. It may include two to four or more divisions. The size of the army corps can reach several tens of thousands of troops.
The 11th Army Corps was a combined arms formation of the Russian Imperial Army. It was formed on November 1, 1876 with the 11th and 32nd Infantry Divisions and 11th Cavalry Division. By August 5, 1914 was part of the 3rd Army of the Southwestern Front. It was disbanded in January 1918.
As part of the three fleets, as part of the reorganization of the coastal forces, army corps were created. On 24 May 2017 , said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking in the Federation Council. "In order to increase command and control effectiveness, coastal troops are moving to the organizational structure of army corps. Three army corps have already been formed: in the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets," Lenta.ru performance by Sergei Shoigu.
In May 2016, it was reported that the administration of the 11th army corps was formed in the Kaliningrad region. He was led by Major General Yuri Yarovitsky. In December 2016, the 22nd Army Corps was created in Crimea. In April 2017, Shoigu said at a college that the administration of the 14th Army Corps was deployed on the Kola Peninsula.
Overall, the fighting power of the Armed Forces has increased more in the Western part of Russia, in particular regarding assets for offensive operations. In Kaliningrad, the 11th Army Corps has been formed, which improves the ability to combined-arms warfare and offensive operations. All three Ground Forces manoeuvre brigades and the fire support units are probably fully combat-capable by Russian MoD standards.
The soldiers of the 11th army corps from the Kaliningrad region took part in the operation in Syria. They decided to use their experience in tank exercises. On 22 December 2019, reports "Interfax" with reference to the press service of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Federation. As noted in the department, in Gusev, on the basis of one of the units, the tankmen held a driving and shooting lesson. 100 military personnel and 30 T-72B3 tanks took part in the exercises. “During the preparation and conduct of classes, special attention was paid to the implementation of the experience of modern military conflicts, in particular, the skills acquired by army corps officers during missions to the Syrian Arab Republic,” the Baltic Fleet said. According to the publication, previously the participation of soldiers of the 11th Army Corps in a military operation in Syria was not reported.
All in all, the Oblast is developing from a neglected province to a military bastion. The driving forces behind this are primarily military-strategic, but also political. Moscow sees Kaliningrad as an asset of growing importance. The Baltic Sea is an important transport route for Russia, primarily for cargo ships, but the air lanes and the underwater pipelines and cables also matter. Kaliningrad matters because it forms a vital link in Russian perimeter defence in the Western war theatre. The Russian threat perception has increasingly focused on the West as a potential enemy. Kaliningrad forms part of a protective arc, spanning from the Arctic and Barents Sea via the Baltic Sea and Transnistria to Crimea and the Black Sea. In the event of a conflict with NATO, Kaliningrad is key to the northern flank.
Kaliningrad has, however, also become a liability for Russia. The vulnerability of the Oblast is often overlooked in the West. Not so by the Russian political and military leadership. Becoming an exclave after the break-up of the Soviet Union, it was always difficult to defend. It is not large enough to provide operational depth for the forces deployed there and reinforcements need to cross two other countries. The Oblast is moreover surrounded by NATO countries and it is becoming more exposed, due to the enhanced NATO and US forces’ presence in the Baltic states and Poland.
The so-called Suwalki gap is as much a headache for Russian reinforcements to Kaliningrad as it is for NATO reinforcements to its Baltic members.
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